According to Expresso newspaper, most cases are concentrated in the Lisbon metropolitan area, while the dispersion of properties throughout the country hinders surveillance and direct intervention, which is only possible with the support of municipalities, explained Benjamim Pereira, president of IHRU, in an interview.

The president of the institute stressed that most of the illegally occupied dwellings were vacant for circumstantial reasons, such as awaiting works or tenders for allocation. Up to September of this year, IHRU (the Housing and Urban Rehabilitation Institute) carried out 76 evictions, almost double the 40 registered in 2024, and expects to double that number by the end of 2025. The removal of occupied properties can only be done immediately in cases of flagrant violation; otherwise, the legal process can take from six months to more than a year.

To reduce reoccupations and accelerate the rehabilitation of properties, IHRU established a framework agreement that allows it to activate companies that were already pre-selected for works, avoiding the need to launch specific tenders. Benjamim Pereira warns that frequent reoccupations harm the institute's credibility and advocates for legislative changes that make the "processes faster," ensuring more effective management of the state's housing assets.